News

JCDecaux UK Reach and The Diversity Standards Collective have launched new research into the LGBTQIA+ community’s perspective on Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising, sharing the results in a new ‘Pride in Posters’ guide and offering brands the chance to pre-test their creative to ensure maximum engagement with this important audience. This new insight shows that OOH is viewed positively as a trusted medium and suggests that there is a new opportunity for brands to reach the LGBTQIA+ community through increased and more authentic representation on the public screen of Out-of-Home. Click here to read the research.

The Diversity Standards Collective is the world’s cultural research network, specialising in targeted community research and community creative testing.

JCDecaux commissioned The Diversity Standards Collective to conduct qualitative research with the LGBTQIA+ community, as part of JCDecaux UK Reach’s mission to open up OOH to even more diverse audiences. The study, ‘Understanding and Exploring LGBTQIA+ Attitudes Towards OOH’ spoke to 250 LGBTQIA+ community members and interviewed 5 LGBTQIA+ professionals, working in the Creative and Advertising industry.

Key Findings:

• 88% of the LGBTQIA+ community view OOH positively/neutrally.
• 49% of participants are more likely to purchase the product if a brand features the LGBTQIA+ community. 
• 46% of participants agree that their perspective on an OOH ad depends on whether the representation of the LGBTQIA+ community feels authentic and consistent 

Key Recommendations (download the Pride in Posters guide for full recommendations):

• Drive community collaboration: Proactively engage LGBTQIA+ individuals at multiple touch points throughout campaign planning.
• Showcase joyful, everyday stories: Focus on everyday settings, uplifting narratives and avoid stereotypes.

• Embrace diversity and intersectionality: Feature LGBTQIA+ individuals who represent a variety of intersecting identities.
• Location matters: Target your audience through OOH locations and consider pre-testing to ensure inclusive and authentic representation.

JCDecaux UK offers clients the opportunity to pre-test creative using JCDecaux’s VIM AI attention measuring tool and through a new partnership with The Diversity Standards Collective, brands can work with panels that offer access to a wide range of communities (including: LGBTQIA+, ethnic groups, disability, gender, religion, class, 55+). The Diversity Standards Collective also offer hosted workshops and ideation sessions in which LGBTQIA+ community members can share their ideas, experiences and perspectives directly with brands and creative teams.

Rich Miles, CEO and Founder at The Diversity Standards Collective said, "The Diversity Standards Collective and I are super excited to have partnered with JCDecaux on this LGBTQIA+ focused research. As someone in the LGBTQIA+ community, I know just how important it is for brands to connect with us in a genuine way. While we knew that community-based media is a great way to connect with the Queer community, we didn’t know as much about how OOH connects with us – until now! We hope the ‘Pride in Posters’ research helps brands better advertise to their Queer consumers and gives them the confidence to create campaigns that are not only authentic but also stand out and, most importantly, work!" 

Thanh Catachanas, Programme Lead for JCDecaux UK Reach said, “Our Reach programme helps brands harness Out-Of-Home's inherent inclusivity to enhance and reflect all the communities we serve. We want to help brands reach the LGBTQIA+ community via OOH, one of the most trusted ad mediums by providing expert guidance on creative best practice and access to our best-in-class pre-testing and location-based targeting capabilities. Our ‘Pride in Posters’ research with the Diversity Standards Collective builds upon the Outvertising’s 2023 Consumer Report, with our insight now looking through the lens of OOH and the LGBTQIA+ community.”